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Amazon’s Prime video streaming service has done a very interesting bit of cross-promotion this last two months with two interesting new show in their lineup: Alpha House and Betas.

Alpha House is an original Amazon Studios political comedy from newspaper cartoonist Gary Trudeau (Doonesbury). It features John Goodman and an all-star cast as well as biting satire, top-notch writing, clean direction, excellent production values and a fun storyline in the first “season.”

Betas is an original Amazon Studios dramedy about software developers working in a start-up in Silicone Valley. It has a strong cast of young actors with Ed Begley, Jr. as the “star,” smart writing, and solid production values as well.

What Amazon did that was very interesting is HEAVILY promote Alpha House in all of the episodes and screens of Betas and also, inversely, HEAVILY promote Betas in all of the episodes and screens of Alpha House.

I’ve watched the full seasons of both shows, and they are both good, strong shows. I find it interesting that Amazon Studios is so strongly tying the two shows to each other, because other than being “made-for-the-web” shows, they don’t have a lot in common in terms of story or tone. One is political; the other high-tech. One is high-end writing/directing/acting; the other at the next tier. One is quite biting satire; the other a softer, more gentle stab at “start-ups” and “high-tech.”

A man died on Monday. He was not wealthy or famous. He was just an everyday hero. He was a dad and a granddad and a great-grand-dad. He was a loving husband. His wife was gone a few years, but she was always in his heart. There were others he had lost, including a first son, who were also in his heart and mind every day. He lived a fairly long life, though if he could have been in better health, he would have chosen to live longer; wouldn’t we all, if we could make that rule?

He worked a long life, had many jobs, did them well. He read books. He listened to music. He watched movies and television. He had hobbies. He had friends. He had things in life that gave him joy, and probably a few that irritated or even angered him. In his last years, his body began to fail him, bit by bit. If he were wealthy or famous, he might have had the resources to push back the failings of his body for a while longer, supplement his physical failings with technology, fix up parts that were breaking, perhaps even replace them with new parts. But he did not have those resources, so that wasn’t an option.

This man’s story is the story of life. Not a life abruptly ended (though it did end abruptly), but one lived mostly to conclusion. The legacy of this man’s life is not an oeuvre of paintings, novels, films, theatrical performances, sporting events, political achievements or awards. The legacy of this man’s life is the people whose lives he touched and changed–the friends, the family, the co-workers, the everyday people he knew, and the church-goers he interacted with. That legacy lives on.

I am grateful this man brought the woman who became my wife into this world and that she ended up with me.